This action funds an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology for FY 2019, Broadening Participation of Groups Under-represented in Biology. The fellowship supports a research and training plan for the Fellow that will increase the participation of groups underrepresented in biology. This research investigates how males and females display outwardly similar behaviors when the underlying mechanisms for these behaviors are predicted to be different. The project examines the hormonal and genomic basis of territorial aggression a behavior that is widespread across the animal kingdom and critical for reproductive success. Studies of male animals reveal that hormones like testosterone, as well as genes expressed in the brain, regulate aggression. However, aggression is also important for females of many species, especially in birds that compete for limited nesting space. An open question is whether male and female aggression are controlled by similar or different mechanisms. This research will survey multiple bird families to examine differences in aggression between males and females, as well as hormones, gene expression, and genome evolution.
The independent origin of similar phenotypes across distantly-related groups is compelling evidence for natural selection, but the proximate bases of behavioral convergence are poorly understood. This research evaluates the mechanistic convergence underlying a repeatedly evolved behavior: cavity-nesting. Both male and female cavity-nesters compete for nest sites, providing an opportunity to assess the nature and degree of mechanistic parallelism between males and females. This work will broadly sample genomes across a phylogeny to quantify positive selection associated with the evolution of cavity nesting. A comparison of hormonal and neural gene expression for multiple species pairs with and without cavity nesting will assess whether convergent selection on the cavity-nesting phenotype predicts male/female differences in aggression across families. This work tests an emergent hypothesis that gene sequence variation, neural gene expression, and hormone levels act independently to bring about convergent behavioral phenotypes. The project's broader impacts are designed to engage and retain students from underrepresented groups as they transition from high school to college. The fellow will pair with high school teachers near Indiana University to design learning modules on the reproductive stages of cavity-nesting, and engage students in hands-on research with interactive 'eBirdhouses' to collect environmental and behavioral data from wild birds. This project provides training for students in critical thinking, data analysis, and public speaking skills essential to success in STEM fields.
This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
